Irish university labs face external audits

摘要

Scientists in Ireland will soon have to open up their lab notebooks and explain their research processes to outside auditors, according to plans outlined by the head of the country's basic-research funding agency. Mark Ferguson, the director-general of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), says that he has invited independent consultancy firms to bid for an unusual and unique annual auditing exercise to start before the end of this year. The firms will check whether SFI-funded institutions, including all of Ireland's leading universities, have procedures in place for reporting and investigating misconduct; whether management has followed those procedures in real cases; and whether any investigations have been carried out to a satisfactory standard. For a small, random selection of SFI-funded grants, auditors will also check how experimental details have been recorded in lab notebooks and signed off by supervisors. In addition, they might ask to see the data behind particular papers.